Needle

ABSTRACT

A needle having elongated shank with point at one end and eye opening between spaced wall portions of shank. One wall portion terminates short of one end of eye opening to define thread receiving passageway. Elongated guide having arcuate portion as viewed in cross section, adjacent one end secured at said one end to shank intermediate thread receiving passageway and point and extends across passageway with longitudinal edges of arcuate portion extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of passageway and adjacent wall portion with other end of guide extending alongside and in spaced relation to shank.

O 1 Umted States Patent [191 [111 $371,104 Grund Feb. 27, 1973 I NEEDLE [76] Inventor: John L. Grund, 8408 First Avenue Examuier-pamck Lawson North, Birmingham Ma 35206 Attorney.lennmgs, Carter & Thompson [22] Filed: March 8, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 122,024 A needle having elongated shank with point at one end and eye opening between spaced wall portions of [52] U S CL 112/224 shank. One wall portion terminates short of one end of [51] IMICL 53/00 y p g to define thread receiving p gc y [58] Field 112/224 Elongated guide having arcuate portion as viewed in cross section, adjacent one end secured at said one [56] References Cited end to shank intermediate thread receiving passageway and point and extends across passageway UNITED STATES PATENTS with longitudinal edges of arcuate portion extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of 1,878,915 9/1932 Tre o ..l12/224 passageway and adjacent wall portion with other end FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS of guide extending alongside and in spaced relation to shank. 509,074 1/l955 Italy ..l12/224 1,085,336 1/1955 France ..1 12/224 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB271975 3,718. 104

1 N VEN TOR.

fO/m L. Grum/ NEEDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a needle and more particularly to an improved needle having means for introducing thread laterally into the eye opening, together with improved means preventing the thread from leaving the eye opening after insertion of the thread.

Heretofore in the art to which my invention relates, various type needles have been proposed wherein the thread is inserted in a lateral direction. However, such needles have been unsatisfactory due to the fact that no practical means has been provided for retaining the thread within the eye opening after insertion. That is, the means for retaining the thread in place has been very complicated whereby the needle does not operate satisfactorily. While less complicated devices have been proposed for threading the needle laterally, they are ineffective to retain the thread in place during normal operation of the needle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with my present invention, I provide a needle having an elongated shank with a point at one end and an eye opening between spaced apart wall portions of the shank. One wall portion terminates short of one end of the eye opening in the shank to provide a laterally opening passageway for receiving the thread. An elongated guide having an arcuate portion, as viewed in cross section, is secured to the shank intermediate the lateral passageway and the point of the needle and extends across the passageway with the longitudinal edges of the arcuate portion extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of the passageway and the wall portion adjacent thereto. The other end of the guide extends alongside and in spaced relation to the shank in position to receive thread therebetween.

Needles embodying features of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a sewing machine needle, partly broken away and in section, showing my improved construction;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, sectional view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a hand needle, partly broken away and in section; and,

FIG. 5 is a fragmental view taken generally along the line 55 of FIG. 1 and drawn to a larger scale.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of my invention, I show in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 a machine needle having an elongated shank l 1 with a point 12 at one end thereof. An eye opening 13 is provided in the shank of the needle adjacent the point 12, as shown in FIG. 1. The eye opening 13 is formed between spaced apart wall portions 14 and 16. The wall portion 16 terminates short of the lower end of the eye opening 13 to define a laterally opening passageway 17 for introducing thread into the eye opening 13.

Secured to the shank 11 intermediate the lateral thread receiving passageway 17 and the point 12 is the lower end of an elongated guide member 18. The guide member 18 is arcuate, as viewed in cross section, as

clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and extends alongside the shank 11 with the upper end of the guide member 18 being spaced from the shank 11 to provide an open space 19 therebetween for receiving the thread to be inserted into the eye opening 13. The arcuate guide member 18 extends across the lateral opening 17 with the longitudinal edges 21 of the guide member 18 extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of the wall portion 16 and adjacent opposite sides of the eye opening 13. While I have shown the elongated guide member 18 as being arcuate, as viewed in cross section, throughout the length thereof, only the lower end of the guide member 18 may be arcuate, as viewed in cross section. That is, it is essential that the portion of the guide member 18 which extends across the laterally opening passageway be arcuate, as viewed in cross section.

As shown in FIG. 5, an opening 15 is provided in the guide member 18 above eye opening 13 for receiving a projection 20 carried by the shank 11. The under surface of projection 20 is adjacent the bottom edge of opening 15 to limit any upward movement of guide member 18 by engagement of projection 20 with opening 15. The upper surface of projection 20 is curved downwardly and outwardly to facilitate insertion of the thread past the projection.

From the foregoing description, the operation of the needle shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 will be readily understood. The thread is inserted into the opening 19 between the upper end of the guide member 18 and the shank 11 and is drawn downwardly toward the point 12 whereupon the thread assumes an arcuate shape as it is forced downwardly between the lower portion of the shank 11 and the adjacent portion of the guide member 18. Upon reaching the laterally opening passageway 17, the thread moves inwardly of the eye opening 13 and is thus retained therein by the longitudinal edges 21 of the arcuate guide member 18. That is, any movement of the thread in a direction outwardly of the opening 17 would cause the thread to engage the longitudinal edges 21 of the guide member 18 whereby the thread could not enter the space between the guide member 18 and the shank 11 without again assuming an arcuate shape corresponding to the space defined between the arcuate member 18 and the shank 11. It will thus be seen that while the thread is easily forced into an arcuate shape as it is drawn downwardly between the guide member 18 and the shank 11, the thread will not assume such an arcuate shape during normal operation of the needle whereby the thread is retained within the eye opening 13 at all times.

Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawing, I show my invention associated with a hand needle 10a having an elongated shank 11a with a point 12a at one end thereof. The shank 11a is provided with an eye opening 13 identical to the eye opening 13 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Also, secured to the shank 11a is one end of an elongated guide member 18 which is identical to the guide member 18 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The free end of the guide member 18 is spaced from the shank 11a to provide a space 19a therebetween for receiving the thread to be inserted into the eye opening 13. The eye opening 13 is defined between spaced apart wall portions 14 and 16 and the wall portion 16 terminates short of one end of the eye opening 13 to provide a laterally opening passageway 17 for receiving the thread, as described hereinabove. The longitudinal edges 21 of the elongated guide member 18 thus extend inwardly alongside and adjacent opposite sides of the opening 13 and at opposite sides of the wall portion 16 to retain the thread within the eye opening 13, as described above. The guide member 18 is provided with an opening and the projection 20 is provided on shank 11a to limit any upward movement of the guide member 18 relative to the projection 20, as described above.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have devised an improved needle which may be threaded by merely inserting the thread between an elongated guide member and the shank of the needle whereupon the thread is introduced into the eye opening through the laterally opening passageway. By providing an arcuate portion which extends across the laterally opening passageway with the longitudinal edges of the arcuate member extending inwardly alongside opposite sides of the adjacent wall portion and at opposite sides of the eye opening, the thread cannot move outwardly of the eye opening without again assuming an arcuate shape corresponding to the inner surface of the guide member. Furthermore, by providing an arcuate guide member adjacent the eye opening with the free end of the guide member extending alongside and spaced from the shank of the needle, the guide member conforms generally to the exterior surface of the shank of the needle, thus increasing the efficiency of operation of the needle.

While I have shown my invention in but two forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

l. A needle comprising:

a. an elongated shank having a point at one end thereof, b. there being an eye opening through said shank defined between spaced apart wall portions of said shank with one said wall portion terminating short 7 of one end of said eye opening to define a lateral thread receiving passageway, and

. an elongated guide member having an arcuate inner portion as viewed in transverse cross section adjacent one end thereof and secured at said one end to said shank intermediate said lateral thread receiving passageway and said point with said arcuate portion extending across and adjacent said lateral thread receiving passageway with the longitudinal edges of said arcuate portion extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of said one wall portion and said lateral thread receiving passageway so that thread passing outwardly of said thread receiving passageway must assume an arcuate shape corresponding to said arcuate inner portion and with the other end of said elongated guide member extending outwardly in spaced relation to said shank.

2. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said eye opening is adjacent said point.

3. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said eye opening is adjacent the opposite end of said shank from said point.

4. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said elongated guide member is arcuate as viewed in cross section throughout the length thereof.

5. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said lateral thread receiving passageway is adjacent the end of said eye opening nearest said point.

6. A needle as described in claim 1 in which a transverse opening is provided in the guide member in position to receive a lateral projection carried by said shank to limit relative longitudinal movement between said guide member and said projection. 

1. A needle comprising: a. an elongated shank having a point at one end thereof, b. there being an eye opening through said shank defined between spaced apart wall portions of said shank with one said wall portion terminating short of one end of said eye opening to define a lateral thread receiving passageway, and c. an elongated guide member having an arcuate inner portion as viewed in transverse cross section adjacent one end thereof and secured at said one end to said shank intermediate said lateral thread receiving passageway and said point with said arcuate portion extending across and adjacent said lateral thread receiving passageway with the longitudinal edges of said arcuate portion extending inwardly along and adjacent opposite sides of said one wall portion and said lateral thread receiving passageway so that thread passing outwardly of said thread receiving passageway must assume an arcuate shape corresponding to said arcuate inner portion and with the other end of said elongated guide member extending outwardly in spaced relation to said shank.
 2. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said eye opening is adjacent said point.
 3. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said eye opening is adjacent the opposite end of said shank from said point.
 4. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said elongated guide member is arcuate as viewed in cross section throughout the length thereof.
 5. A needle as defined in claim 1 in which said lateral thread receiving passageway is adjacent the end of said eye opening nearest said point.
 6. A needle as described in claim 1 in which a transverse opening is provided in the guide member in position to receive a lateral projection carried by said shank to limit relative longitudinal movement between said guide member and said projection. 